Reason #994
Well, October is a reminiscent month for me, so it's no surprise that my blog would be ending in the very month that changed my life in the biggest way. I grabbed dinner before I headed to my bible study tonight, and as I drove down familiar roads, my mind went back to a specific day. I had a memory so clear, so vivid, a moment in time that I wish I would have followed my heart and made the decision God was directing me to. It was in the fall of 2008, my last semester of college. I drove past the very place I had parked one day. A day where I walked back to my car after class replaying so many conversations in my head. That day, deep down, I knew what I needed to. But that day I didn't make the decision I should have made because that day, I believed I could make things work out differently if I just hung in there.
We're all guilty of playing God at one time or another. We've made a plan, and even though we desire to honor God, we don't desire to put our plan aside and follow His. And so we decide that rather than changing plans, we'll ask Him to bless our plan. That way, it should work out, right? But the problem with that is when we choose to follow our plans over God's, we've made the wrong choice. God isn't fickle. He doesn't change His mind. He never has, but that doesn't stop us from trying.
We need to let God be God. Let Him do His job. Let Him call the shots and make the decisions. Because here's the thing, God sees it all. I mean all of it. He sees our lives from the start to the finish, and He knows every little, intricate detail. He knows exactly what lies ahead of us. He planned it, after all. He numbered our days, and He knows exactly what each one holds. But we grab on so tight to the things we want because we're afraid that if we let go, we might not get them. If we let God be God, He may not give us what we want. He might tell us no, and not a no, not right now, no. An indefinite no. He may not have the same plans that we have, and it's hard for us to fathom that God could have something completely different in store for us. We've thought about our lives since they began. I mean, we are the ones living it, and so we want to play God's role. We want to plan it all out, live it all out, and we want our lives to go according to our plan. But if we could see in to our future, if we knew exactly what tomorrow held, we might change our minds. We might let go of our plans if we were aware of the implications, the heartache, and the disappointment they held in store for us. If we really let God be God, I think we'd be surprised at how our lives actually played out.
I've learned it's best to do what God leads you to do. You don't have to do it, by any means. He'll let you do what you want to do. But abiding in God's will is the best place to be. I didn't say it was the easiest, I said it was the best. Because God's will is perfect. Sure, at the moment it may not seem perfect. It may seem messy and frustrating and really confusing. But it's perfect. It's where you need to be. It's where God needs you to be. He needs you to submit to His will so that He can use you. He needs you to follow His lead so that He can guide you where He desires for you to be. And when we make our own plans and stick to them, we become lost and we become useless. We have to let God be God. We have to trust Him. We have to have faith that He is doing something good, something that matters. God sees it all. God knows it all. And when we realize that God is really in control of it all, we can rest in knowing that God will see us through.
#994 - Because God's way works!
We're all guilty of playing God at one time or another. We've made a plan, and even though we desire to honor God, we don't desire to put our plan aside and follow His. And so we decide that rather than changing plans, we'll ask Him to bless our plan. That way, it should work out, right? But the problem with that is when we choose to follow our plans over God's, we've made the wrong choice. God isn't fickle. He doesn't change His mind. He never has, but that doesn't stop us from trying.
We need to let God be God. Let Him do His job. Let Him call the shots and make the decisions. Because here's the thing, God sees it all. I mean all of it. He sees our lives from the start to the finish, and He knows every little, intricate detail. He knows exactly what lies ahead of us. He planned it, after all. He numbered our days, and He knows exactly what each one holds. But we grab on so tight to the things we want because we're afraid that if we let go, we might not get them. If we let God be God, He may not give us what we want. He might tell us no, and not a no, not right now, no. An indefinite no. He may not have the same plans that we have, and it's hard for us to fathom that God could have something completely different in store for us. We've thought about our lives since they began. I mean, we are the ones living it, and so we want to play God's role. We want to plan it all out, live it all out, and we want our lives to go according to our plan. But if we could see in to our future, if we knew exactly what tomorrow held, we might change our minds. We might let go of our plans if we were aware of the implications, the heartache, and the disappointment they held in store for us. If we really let God be God, I think we'd be surprised at how our lives actually played out.
I've learned it's best to do what God leads you to do. You don't have to do it, by any means. He'll let you do what you want to do. But abiding in God's will is the best place to be. I didn't say it was the easiest, I said it was the best. Because God's will is perfect. Sure, at the moment it may not seem perfect. It may seem messy and frustrating and really confusing. But it's perfect. It's where you need to be. It's where God needs you to be. He needs you to submit to His will so that He can use you. He needs you to follow His lead so that He can guide you where He desires for you to be. And when we make our own plans and stick to them, we become lost and we become useless. We have to let God be God. We have to trust Him. We have to have faith that He is doing something good, something that matters. God sees it all. God knows it all. And when we realize that God is really in control of it all, we can rest in knowing that God will see us through.
#994 - Because God's way works!
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing." - Psalm 143:10